Joop Schreurs and Joop Roosendaal of Estinea share their experiences
Estinea provides support to people with intellectual disabilities in the Achterhoek and Twente regions. From approximately 70 locations, about 1,000 employees work with an equal number of clients, providing services ranging from housing and day programs to outpatient care and Wmo-based care. What sets Estinea apart: the organization operates with self-managing teams. Everyone is treated as equals; there is no direct supervisor on site; and each team takes full responsibility for its results.
“A manager has three occasions when he discusses the figures. On each of those occasions, he wants to see exactly the same figures.”
This approach requires accurate and reliable management information. Teams must be able to independently manage their use of FTEs, authorized staffing levels, hours of care provided, and financial results. The old reporting system no longer met these needs, and there was a growing desire to consolidate data from various sources—such as the client management system Puur and the HR and financial system AFAS—into clear, easy-to-understand reports.
The solution developed by EscuLine (part of SureSync) now operates on a fixed schedule. On the 10th of every month, teams receive a report in PDF format. That consistency is not a side issue, but the core of the system: whether a team member discusses the figures with the manager, or the manager with the Board of Directors, everyone works with exactly the same overview.
The reports are based on dashboards that EscuLine has customized to Estinea’s needs and terminology. The financial dashboard displays budgets, actuals, and forecasts. The HR dashboard tracks staff deployment, absenteeism, and contract hours. The production dashboard provides insight into the number and type of clients. Estinea also has a budgeting tool: information that EscuLine retrieves from Puur and AFAS is processed into a dynamic budget via Tagetik and fed back into the reporting environment.
The implementation itself went remarkably smoothly. Because the content of the reports was similar to that of the previous system, the transition was barely noticeable to most teams. As Joop Schreurs put it: “I think the teams were the least aware of the change.”
Estinea is now focusing on the next step: the transition from static PDF reports to online dashboards. Ease of use is the guiding principle here. Teams must be able to continue focusing on their core task—supporting clients—and not be distracted by complex tools. Managers and the Board of Directors are given more extensive capabilities and receive training as needed, so they can also support the teams using the dashboards.
Estinea finds its collaboration with EscuLine to be pleasant and direct. Questions are addressed quickly, and the team is also challenged when necessary. They appreciate the latter. “Providing clear direction and working together to translate that into a smooth collaboration,” is how BI consultant Daan de Regt summed it up. The goal is to continue developing the system together with EscuLine and other healthcare institutions, so that reports increasingly align with the dynamics of healthcare practice.